Zambia’s solar auction result followed a series of headline-making auctions in India, Mexico, Peru, and Dubai. In Dubai’s case, the price was as low as 3 cents/kWh -- the lowest price ever offered for solar power. Solar auctions are effectively a competitive bidding process to build power plants and supply a specific quantity of electricity at a pre-agreed price over a specified period of time.

On March 19, millions of people across the globe will turn their lights off for one hour. For many, Earth Hour is a time to recognize and acknowledge the array of challenges our world faces on energy, climate, and poverty.

Some of us have seen these numbers so many times, they no longer seem as alarming as they should. Their impact has worn thin... So to recognize this reality for millions of our fellow human beings and to raise awareness of energy poverty, here are a few things you can do for Earth Hour on Saturday, March 19:

Recognizing this gap is one thing. But having the working partnerships, monitoring tools and financing to move forward is another matter. The great news about the Energy SDG is that these pieces are finally falling into place.

A major factor in this momentum is Sustainable Energy for All, an initiative set up after Rio+20, the UN's 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. The SE4All initiative has high-level leadership and strong political support. Co-led and chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, it has quickly brought together the public sector, private sector and civil society around three ambitious goals: ensuring universal access to modern-energy services; doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global-energy mix.

It’s not every day that oil and gas companies commit to an $8 billion project, even as commodity prices show no signs of stabilizing. Such a deal is even tougher to orchestrate in Ghana, where the macroeconomic situation has deteriorated in the past two years, resulting in the country’s restructuring program with the International Monetary Fund.But such an operation did happen.On July 30, the World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors approved the largest guarantee support—$700 million in total—in the 20-year history of the Bank’s IDA/IBRD guarantee program. The combination is unique—it draws together the part of the Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries with the arm that offers long-term loans to middle-income developing countries.But its result is even more critical, and possibly a best practice for other countries to follow in the future.

We are living in very exciting times when it comes to renewable energy. All over the world, countries are taking steps to generate more and more of their power from their wind, solar and hydropower resources, among other means of clean energy production. This expansion is not just vital for human and economic development, it’s key to the world’s efforts to tackle climate change. With less than six weeks to go until policy makers gather for the next UN Climate Conference of the Parties in Lima, Peru and as part of a series of events at the World Bank’s annual meetings, we hosted a panel of energy experts to look at what it will take to rise to the renewable energy challenge and address energy poverty.

About Us

The World Bank works with developing countries to find modern, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy solutions to end extreme poverty & boost shared prosperity. This blog is devoted to an exchange of ideas on how to achieve this goal.